November 19, 2018

Top Trump PAC To Flood Mississippi Airwaves Ahead Of Senate Runoff

A top super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump is infusing the Mississippi Senate special election runoff with nearly $300,000 to help Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Hyde-Smith will face former Democratic Rep. Mike Espy, who also served as Agriculture secretary in the Clinton administration, in the Nov. 27 runoff. Neither cleared 50 percent in the Nov. 6 jungle primary, which saw two Republicans and two Democrats run together on the same ballot.

America First Action will run radio, television, and digital ads all across the state touting the president’s endorsement of Hyde-Smith and her record of voting in lockstep with his priorities since her April appointment to replace Sen. Thad Cochran, who retired for health reasons.

The ad features Trump’s remarks from a rally for Hyde-Smith earlier this year.

“Cindy has voted with me 100 percent of the time,” the president says. “She’s always had my back. ... A vote for Cindy is a vote for me and ‘Make America Great Again.’”

The spot also highlights Hyde-Smith’s endorsement from the National Rifle Association.

America First Action will also contribute resources for a get-out-the-vote phone call operation from Tuesday through the runoff election.

Trump himself is scheduled to headline two rallies on Nov. 26, the day before the election, in Tupelo and Biloxi.

He will be in Tupelo at 5 p.m. and then in Biloxi three hours later.

The special election winner gets to serve out the final two years of Cochran’s term. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the Mississippi special Senate election Solid Republican.